Friday, 15 March 2013

We wondered what on earth one of our
councillors had done to be accused so vehemently of making “dangerous” comments
and “fanning the flames of tension” during a meeting involving members of the
borough Task and Finish Group on the effects of immigration on
Boston, the Shadow Communities Minister Chris Williamson, and Harris Beider, a
“Professor in Community Cohesion.” Apparently Professor Beider took exception
to reported “claims” by Fishtoft’s Independent Councillor Ossy Snell that a lot
of criminal offences appeared to have been committed by foreign people.
Frankly, we think that the learned Professor should wake up and smell the
coffee. On this week’s Boston Standard website,
eight out of ten defendants on motoring charges were clearly from Eastern
Europe – and many of the offences were serious in that they were drink related.
It would seem that all Councillor Snell is guilty of is of speaking as he finds – but
that is sometimes politically incorrect in itself for today’s pundits. Similarly
Councillor Snell was chastised for suggesting that those migrating here should
learn English. Yet when the government makes similar demands for applicants from
overseas who want to work in the NHS, everyone nods sagely.

Along similar lines, after a recent report
in the Daily Mirror which said that Butlins
is hiring hundreds of workers in recruitment drives throughout Eastern Europe
while turning away unemployed Britons, a Boston
Eye reader has been in touch with our local MP Mark Simmonds. Bearing in
mind that Boston was also a big recruiting ground for Butlins in Skegness, he
writes: “Would it not be prudent for measures to be introduced into law to
compel employers to actually advertise their job vacancies? I would further
suggest that it would be prudent to curtail the on-going love affair some
employers evidently have for cheap agency labour. If a firm has a job to offer,
then it should actually be available to those here, it should be advertised
here, and it shouldn't be permissible to fill vacancies with an endless stream
of cheap agency workers purely because some employment sectors see it as a
convenient means to circumvent basic employment rights. I submit that it would
certainly be much more appropriate and successful than the open vilification
the British unemployed are currently being subjected to by this government. A bit of common-sense in the circles of power
wouldn't go amiss.” To us this seems a reasonable suggestion – but doubtless
Professor Beider would disagree. So far a reply from Mr Simmonds has proved
elusive.

There’s been much talk of road safety
issues during the week, and an interesting observation has come in from Boston Eye reader Alan Marshall about
a missed opportunity to improve one problem street. He writes:“Thinking of Tawney Street as perhaps the
most dangerous thoroughfare in Boston, where parked cars obstruct any safe
passage of ambulances, fire engines – in fact all motor vehicles, including
cyclists– I observed the decline of the
old hard surface tennis courts within Central Park adjoining Tawney Street for
some years. When eventually the post and wire surrounds were removed, I thought
to myself ‘Thank goodness. At last someone at Boston or Lincoln has finally
seen what I had thought obvious for years. This being to widen the double-gated
vehicular entrance from Tawney Street into Central Park so as to separate
pedestrians from vehicles, resurface the old hard courts with high quality dark
green tarmac, mark out parking bays, then offer all properties which do not
have off-street parking on Tawney Street one permit for £100 a year, and thus remove
all on street parking on Tawney Street.It seemed so obvious I didn’t think it needed me to suggest it. The day I
drove by to see the old tarmac being removed in sections and replaced with
soil, just reminded me how useless our borough and city councillors are.Ok, they call it a community growing space,
but they have turned part of Central Park into allotments. Just how crass is
that?

Despite all the promises in opposition, it
is starting to seem as though our Tory councillors who also sit at County Hall
are having second thoughts about supporting the re-routing of the Into Town bus
service away from Strait Bargate.Last
week we saw a letter from Councillor Mike Gilbert which, whilst supporting an
alternative route, spent most of the time painting a picture of disadvantaged
elderly and disabled people, and bus drivers starving in the dole queue as a
means of pulling at our heartstrings to maintain the status quo. Now we have had a glimpse of an e-mail from another
county councillor to a constituent which says: “I fully support looking for a
solution that both considers the vulnerable and elderly who may use and depend
on the bus service, whilst also having limited effect on other townsfolk, and I
am therefore open and commend looking for a reliable and viable route.” Is it
just a coincidence that “reliability” and “viability” are the two words most commonly
used by bus operators Brylaine to justify the continued use of Strait Bargate
as rat run when the county council renews their contract in June?

We tend to assume that our local
councillors are on top of what’s going on in the town, and that they might as
part of the job be expected to read our local “newspapers.” That’s why we were
rather disheartened to hear the comments of one local Tory who declared that
they didn't buy local newspapers because they weren't interested and they couldn’t
afford them anyway. Such bllatant disinterest is a slap in the face to voters
– but perhaps that was what was intended. If as claimed, this councillor is so poverty
stricken that £1.15 is too much to spend, there are alternatives. A visit to
the library is one, as the papers are usually somewhere around.We are also fairly sure that a few copies are
available in the council members’ lounge – and failing that, we are certain that
newspapers are an allowable expense for a councillor to charge.

We are indebted to Boston Borough Council’
website for an photo that could well form the basis for a future
“spot the odd one out” competition. According to the caption accompanying the picture below: “Volunteer gardeners prepare
to tackle a ten-ton pile of granite chippings.”

That is probably true of eight of the nine people in the
picture. The ninth is Boston Borough Council's portfolio holder for
leisure services, parks, open spaces and cemeteries, Councillor Yvonne Gunter.It’s a tough question – but can you guess which one she is?

The news this week that a £50m project to
roll out superfast broadband to at least 88% of houses and businesses in
Lincolnshire is set to begin seems likely to have little, if any, impact here
in Boston. A County Hall spokesman says:
“Companies need it to expand and if we want companies to relocate here we need
to have this 21st Century technology in place.” But the Luddite stance adopted
by our local council leadership – and Boston’s MP – seems to prefer only the packing
and caulie cutting industries … so why would they want high tech businesses to come here? It’s also
less than encouraging to hear that BT is working with new technologies to
extend coverage in Lincolnshire even further by rolling out superfast broadband
to include its exchanges in Grantham, Spalding, Gainsborough and Bourne. It’s
not the first time that Boston has missed the list, and also not for the first
time that Bourne has overtaken Boston in the town improvement stakes – whilst
our leaders appear to stand by and watch.

The next promised date for the re-opening
of Boston’s Assembly Rooms draws ever nearer without any sign of any activity.
This has prompted a reader to ask: “Does
anyone have any idea when work is likely to commence? The May ‘opening date’
grows ever closer. I am sure Boston
Borough Council are maintaining a keen eye on proceedings in the light of the
terms of the ‘Agreement of Sale'. It might become very embarrassing for them if
they are not ... especially for the party loyal who are looking toward being
re-elected on 2nd May at county level."

A former member of the Boston Bypass
Pressure Group has offered a further comment on buses using Strait Bargate as a
rat run. Michael Borrill e-mailed to
say: “The question of the buses through the Market Place has reminded me of the
"Tribal" (a firm of “consultants”) report of 2007. This report, at
great expense, provided the council with a Boston Town Centre Study which was
apart from the Transport Study. Over the years some of the details have been
cast aside – e.g. the West Street development – but many of the recommendations
still apply. One of these was "more pedestrianisation" and less
pedestrian/vehicle conflict. "The pedestrian experience in the Market
Place can be viewed as inadequate due to the presence of manoeuvring vehicles,
through traffic (there were no buses when this report was compiled) and the
poor delineation of the pedestrian route across the Market Place. These issues
lead to pedestrian/vehicle conflict and severance." This was before buses
and the revamp of the Market Place! The report recommended : "Reduce
pedestrian/vehicular conflict. Pedestrian priority should be a key part in any
redesign of the Market Place. This does not necessarily mean excluding
vehicles, but means that they should feel ‘guests’ in a space that is ‘owned’by the pedestrian." I suggest all councillors
read this report.”

The whooping by Boston Borough Council’s
leadership regarding the plans for a £3 million marina by the River Witham off
Fenside Road is all but drowning out the fears of local residents, who are
concerned that it may cause structural problems to their houses, as well as
devaluing them and increasing insurance charges. All of this is being brushed
aside by plaudits for the scheme – which will see 161 berths for boats and a restaurant
as well. We have our doubts about such a project. It may well bring in a few
more visitors, but the bottom line is that it will more likely see Boston used
as a staging post along the Fens Waterways Link. But the best line we heard was the idea
apparently endorsed among our so-called “leaders” – that the development
might see a near doubling of house prices in the area overnight. Now we know
that some of our councillors do not inhabit the real world!

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com
Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if
requested.

2 comments:

It was only to be expected that when the thoroughly honorable Coun Ossy Snell mentioned certain reported (and true) claims at the "Task and Finish us Off" beeno, he would be be promptly shot down, and so he was with a vitriolic salvo from the visiting professor, who is obviously not used to hearing "off message" comments, from a mere mortal and duly responded as one would expect, after all he is an expert you know. What we should be really worried about is that NO ONE else supported Coun Snell, but at least we now know where we all stand with the usual suspects at the back slapping event.

About the author

is written and edited by retired Lincolnshire born writer and broadcaster Malcolm Swire, who was brought up in London, where he began his career in journalism.
In the 1960s he joined the Boston Standard before returning to London to write for the UK’s national news agency, the Press Association – then based in Fleet Street.
He returned to Lincolnshire –where his family history goes back more than a century – in various public relations roles, before becoming a founder member of BBC Radio Lincolnshire,where he created the station's Go for Gold appeal,which raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for local charities.
Over the years, he read the news, presented programmes and retired from the BBC as the station's Programme Organiser and Deputy Managing Editor.
He started the Boston Eye blog in February 2007 and has vowed to continue until Boston Borough Council's leadership is all that it should be!
He has dug in for a long wait!